Young Volcanoes
by ravencherries
Summary: Being a jounin in Konoha is a nice enough life for Sakura, unlike Sasuke, who has recently been ranked as an ANBU. Due to a fight with death and blind arrogance, Sasuke resigns the ranking since he does not think himself strong enough, and wants Sakura to take his place in Squad 1 with the legendary, Itachi Uchiha. ItaSaku/ AU Non-massacre


**Hello my readers! Thank you everyone who's taking their time to read this! This is my spin-off on Sakura joining ANBU because y'know, there's so many stories about her joining the ANBU and this is mine! It's ItaSaku as well ... If you didn't know. Well enjoy it! **

**I apologize in advance for any misspellings, grammatical errors or just any mistakes. **

* * *

A loud wail echoed through the huge room. All eyes turned to the distraught blonde male in the door way. His tanned hand was outstretched to one of the customers inside and his electric blue eyes lit up in worry and distress. While all the girls and workers watched, the mystery man walked swiftly towards a girl in the back. And said girl was staring straight at him with an ice-cold glare that could make most people uneasy.

"Sakura-chan! Don't do it, please!" He said loudly in the hushed room as he made his way towards the petal-haired girl in the back. The hand that was reaching for said girl wouldn't go back down and finally he reached her.

"Why would you do this?!"

The girl grunted in disgust as she turned her head away from the blonde boy.

Sakura was here at a hair stylist in Konoha getting her hair cut back to its normal, almost-shoulder length hair and she thought it was good idea. Despite all the negative remarks she had heard from her friends and parents, she wanted this. Especially her friend, Ino, refused it. The pale-blonde headed woman said that it took away from her femininity and she had not grown it out ever since she had cut it to the length of her chin. And that was two years ago. The pink mane had now grown to her back and it was a... nice change for Sakura but she wouldn't keep it.

She did not know why she had let it grow out so much. Ever since that fateful summer two years ago, she had decided to cut off her waist length due to the irritating heat and has cut it to that length ever since. Maybe she just missed the way the long locks felt or how it looked. Who knew. But now it was time to get back in the routine.

"Lady," The spikey-haired boy turned to the woman behind his friend," Do not, For the sake of Kami, cut this girl's hair. Please."

The woman stared incredulously at the boy pleading with her and a annoyed scoff escaped her lips before she turned back to Sakura. Her hand picked up a nice, big amount of pink strands and she picked up the scissors on her right before turning back to him.

"Sir. If she wants it, she wants it. Now just accept it and leave. You're causing a ruckus." Hearing that Sakura smirked and sunk into the nicely supported chair. However her friend, Naruto, did not take it as gently.

Naruto scowled and crossed his arms.

"I'm the Hokage's son. _Lady._"

Inwardly Sakura groaned. He used this excuse for everything.

Usually he used it for discounts at ramen bars or just plain food stands. Sometimes he used it just to win and start fights when was younger and sometimes in the present too. It was maybe his catchphrase or maybe it was just him bragging that the fourth Hokage was his father and that his father could beat you to a pulp under his demand. Though he knew that would never happen, probably the Hokage or Naruto's mother would actually scold Naruto into a deaf pulp. Sakura just doesn't know why he continues saying this to everyone.

Naruto watched as the lady visibly tensed and averted her eyes away from him. But to his surprise she didn't lower the scissors or set down his friend's pink hair. Naruto was about to repeat himself, when she raised the scissors towards her hair swiftly but being the jounin shinobi he is, with all the agility training and perfect eye-coordination, Naruto scooped Sakura up from the chair in lightning speed and make a quick dash out of the salon they were in. Sakura was in too much shock and rage to jump from his arms. I mean she has the strength to do so.

* * *

The sun beat down in a nice way; not too hot. The trees gave a perfect amount of shade for the man sitting underneath them. But the man was not in a perfect mood despite his surroundings. He had planned a sparring for his friend and himself and it's been at least thirty-minutes.

_'Kakashi's tactics must've have rubbed off on him...'_

An annoyed sigh sounded through his lips as he crossed his arms in an impatient matter. Sasuke Uchiha was not the patient type and he will never be. Though he mostly hid his irritation well, he just did not appreciate it. Especially from his longtime, childhood friend and teammate.

Just as he was about to get up and look for said man and give him a piece of his mind, he heard loud footsteps coming closer and multiple spats and apologies. He immediately recognized the two voices coming nearer every second and finally he the familiar flash of pink and yellow.

"Sakura-chan... I'm...ow...I just don't- ow! Want you to cut your hair!" Naruto said as Sakura continuously punched his chest for him to let go of her and multiple times on his head as well. Sasuke inwardly cringed at the girl's abusive hits and he got up from his spot under the tree to confront his two teammates.

"What gives you the right to pull me out of a shop just cause _you_ don't want me to cut my hair?! I already paid too, you idiot!" Sakura said as she finally succeeded in pushing herself out of his protective grip. Crossing her arms in a scolding manner, the pink-haired spitfire narrowed her jade eyes into slits. Naruto grinned sheepishly and raised his arm before scratching the back of his head.

"...I'll pay you back Sakura-chan." He murmured.

"Whatever... So why am I here?" She said once she laid her eyes on Sasuke, who looked to be unamused about this situation. His midnight-black eyes met her bright green ones as walked towards her. The pink-haired girl was happy to see those all-to-familar eyes.

"Why _is_ she here Naruto?" Sasuke asked simply. Naruto finally grinned genuinely as he lowered his arm back down. Sasuke raised a dark eyebrow while Sakura was still simply confused and irritated. "I thought we had a planned sparring session. I'm pretty sure Sakura doesn't want to watch."

In one way he was right, Sakura didn't exactly want to just sit down and watch her friends beat each other half to death due to their childhood rivalry but on the other hand, she wanted to stay. Ever since Sasuke had joined ANBU, Sakura and Naruto had rarely had the time to train with him. Yes, they still and will always keep in touch but that was just a couple of hours every once in awhile. Back before he joined the elite Konoha group, Team 7 was seen together practically everyday through the village. It was quite sad actually.

So she just wanted to spend the day with her team. Maybe it was a good thing Naruto brought her here. Yet in the back of her mind, her inner-half was yelling to just leave and get back to her errands and haircut. The heat was beating down on her and with her longer hair, it was becoming humid underneath it's cover. She knew if she had her usual short hair, it would be paradise right now. Sakura sighed under her breath, damn her loving side.

"No, I'd like to watch you guys." Sasuke briefly stared at her while Naruto chuckled triumphantly before walking across the training field. He got into a defensive position and looked straight at Sasuke with smug grin. Sakura smiled and soon found a spot under a tree, where Sasuke was earlier actually. Sasuke then made it to the other side of the field, right across Naruto, and eyed him dangerously.

"Let's do this bastard. Whoever wins will get healed by Sakura-chan." Said girl realized that was a good prize to fight for. Usually their sparrings end up for the two of them to stagger and practically limp to the Konoha hospital since their wounds were too much to heal since they would drain their chakra and not have the correct amount of chakra to heal. And also because they don't exactly know proper healing techniques.

It's probably a good thing she's staying. Her emerald eyes watched as Naruto made the first move, almost predictable for Sasuke and herself since he was excited to show his skills. Sakura watched as Sasuke's eyes bled into a vivid crimson and those markings spinned rapidly, indicating the famous Uchiha sharingan had turned on. Sasuke lunged forward in a speed Sakura saw only as a blur and held a closed fist. Naruto was running forward with his famous speed as well, holding three kunais in both hands, ready to launch. The pinkette watched closely as the suspense of who was going to get more damage when the attacks combined but suddenly it all stopped when a cloud of smoke appeared between them, effectively grabbing theirs wrists to stop the attacks.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura jumped to her feet and walked towards her comrades. Question filled her jade eyes as she began to wonder why her genin teacher was here. Yes, he still trained them occasionally, but he really never popped up while they were sparring. Kakashi would usually lay back and watch them until they finished and noticed that he was there. Usually, he'd be the one to take them to the hospital. The only girl of Team 7 stopped when she was just across Kakashi, who was still holding the boy's wrist in a noticeably strong grip.

"Oi." He responded after letting go of the two men. Naruto rubbed his wrist for comfort and stared at Kakashi for a brief second until he spoke.

"What are you doing here sensei? I thought you would bere-reading those pornos again on such a lazy day." The blonde said jokingly as he grinned. A sarcastic chuckle came from the white-haired man as he stuck his hands in his pocket.

"No, Naruto. Actually today isn't that lazy. You three have a mission. Right now actually. To the Hokage you go."

Sasuke quirked an eyebrow at his old teacher.

"_We_? As in Team 7?"

Kakashi nodded and looked up to admire the flock of birds flying overhead. Just so casually. Sasuke looked at his teacher incredulously. He should know! His mouth opened to say something yet the white-haired man already beat him to it.

"I suggested you three since you guys haven't been on a mission together for such a long time. I thought it would be nice."

Sakura smiled.

"Aa. Thank you Kakashi-sensei! We'll go to Hokage-sama then."

As she was about to leave, same with Naruto, Sasuke halted them with a hand as he kept his stone-hard stare on Kakashi. The masked man averted his eyes to Sasuke's. He already knew what his old student was thinking.

"Sasuke."

"Kakashi. You know a mission with two jounins is easy for an ANBU. You were one yourself, Captain actually. It's just a waste of my time."

Naruto and Sakura both were shocked with his remark. In all honesty, they believed the youngest Uchiha of the main Uchiha clan family would be actually happy to reunite on a mission with the team. Now he was just arrogant with becoming an ANBU.

"Oi bastard. You're going with us so we can teach you that jounins are as strong as ANBU, 'lright? You just joined too, what makes you the buff guy?" Naruto said as he glared at his rave-haired rival. And Sasuke glared right back, equally terrifying. Sakura inwardly sighed as she stepped forward.

"Sasuke. Just go. We haven't been on a mission with just the three of us in such a long time. All you've been on is ANBU missions, which sometimes take a week. I even heard it takes a couple months sometimes," Kakashi nodded in agreement, " Just c'mon."

Sasuke gave Sakura a hard stare before grunting and walking away. Naruto raised both his fists up in annoyance and shouted at his teammate.

"Oh you're such a di-!"

"I'm going to the Hokage's tower, let's go." The Uchiha said over his shoulder, not even bothering to turn his head towards the three. Sakura immediately lightened up and smiled, walking behind Sasuke with a big smile. Naruto was just muttering under his breath that Sasuke was an arrogant asshole and Kakashi... Kakashi ignored the whole conversation.

Naruto finally gave up and a grin graced his tanned face.

"I guess we'll continue this sparring later, huh?"

Much to his chagrin, Sasuke smirked in amusement.

"Hn."

* * *

"Yeah, Yeah! We got this dad, 'right?!" Naruto yelled over his shoulder at the Hokage. The three were starting towards the door before Minato was reminding his son to be prepared, diligent and smart. Also safe, much to his fatherly duties.

"I know Naruto... Just making sure and that's Hokage to you." Minato said with an amused grin. The blonde boy at the door let out a stifled laugh before walking out of the door and shutting it behind him. The strolled out the building and started towards the Konoha gates. They had already prepared before they came to the Hokage tower.

Their mission was somewhat an assassination but it was only if nessacary and it is not that hard of mission. Just to retrieve a couple of scrolls from camp near Konoha, somewhere close to the border of Suna and Konoha. It was an easy trip, much to Sakura's delight and with their skills, they knew they could sneak easily past a raid of nuke-nin and retrieve two or more scrolls. Easy. It was ranked as a normal jounin mission due to the camp they were going to sneak past. Minato warned them that this group was very hostile due to the reports of them eradicating a small village just in one night.

That shook Sakura up slightly but she knew she had great backup and with her training from the always traveling, Sannin Tsunade, she had the healing abilities and superhuman strength to do so. About Tsunade... This woman found Sakura at her weakest when she was only a genin. Sakura was training, almost killing herself by using all of her chakra and attempting to regenerate more and was overexterting herself way too much. The legendary sannin had asked her why she was doing this and almost pitied her from hearing the pinkette's anser answer.

_"I'm... I'm too weak to protect the ones I care for."_

Tsunade then took her under her wing because she did not want Sakura to make the same mistakes she had. Tsunade's loved one had died and she could not protect them. And that's why she trained the little pinkette, turning her into a miniature Tsunade. Successfully making her stronger both physically and spiritually.

"Genma-san." Sakura curtly greeted to the guard on duty as she handed him a small letter from the Hokage, giving them permission to leave and come back without suspicions. The brunette shinobi nodded in response and he scanned the note easily. Returning his hazel eyes to Sakura's, he simply nodded.

"You can go then." The trio nodded and went on their way to their first mission in years.

* * *

Low pants escaped her partially opened lips as she jumped branch to branch. Even though the shade gave them a nice cover, being at the border, close to Suna, it was extremely hotter than it was in Konoha. The only breeze that came was once every hour. Yes, Sakura had kept count and since it's been six grueling hours since they left in the afternoon, it's become late. The sun was close to setting and the heat had cooled partially.

They took one break that lasted thirty minutes since they took a short, small deep in the river near by. Well Sakura and Naruto did. Sasuke just retrieved some drinking water and sat down by the trees and awaited the two. It seemed that Sakura and Naruto were enjoying the mission way more than Sasuke. The young Uchiha just did not like that he was marked at jounin strength even when he was recruited into ANBU, but actually he just couldn't let that this was just a Team 7 reunion sink into his hard head.

Sasuke just decided that he would do most of the work himself, so he could prove that he was much stronger than them and just to get back home earlier. He knows teamwork is strong and important but his pride, unconsciously, wouldn't allow it and he had to prove his point. He just has to be right.

Arubtly stopping, Sasuke stopped the two behind him continuing on and they already knew why.

"I'm sensing someone... I'm guessing it's someone from that camp because Hokage-sama told us that no one would be around besides any of the members." Sakura concluded with a hint of worry. There was more than one lurking around the quickly darkening forest. The team went down in a hidden position, crouching lowely and walking noiselessly behind bushes and greenery. With their keen hearing, they heard a couple of men's voices. They stopped in their tracks and peeked through the small openings of the bushes.

"There's only three of them we can take them out." Naruto suggested as he was about to pull out kunai with paper bombs attached. Yet Sasuke stopped him with a glare.

"No. If they are not doing anything besides talking, we do not attempt to make attention." Sasuke said while he continued crawling behind the thick brush and after exchanging knowing glances, Naruto and Sakura followed in suit. Naruto did not put the kunais away though, just in case... _something_ happens.

They continued until they heard a much bigger amount of men talking and it was closer too. Sasuke peeked out with his blazing sharingan and narrowing them, he found the leader of the camp.

"There's Taikushi Han. Leader of them. He's rumored to be quite strong," Sasuke averted his crimson eyes to the two behind him, who were listening carefully, " jounin-level actually. So careful."

Naruto would've let Sasuke had it if they weren't on such a stealthy mission. He really had it though. Arrogance was not becoming of his best friend. Usually, Sasuke admired the teamwork they accomplished through the years and they have perfected it since, but now it was faded and Sasuke thought he could control the two of them, Hell no! It seemed that this would be more of rivarly than accomplishing a mission. However, Naruto brushed that childish thought away as he realized, they needed that teamwork.

Sakura and Naruto ignored his obvious comment and continued towards the center of the camp. Everytime they closer to the center, more of the men appeared. From Sakura's point of view, they look hostile and dangerous. Most of the men, look buff and scarred from unknown fights. Others had the tense, mysterious figure. But all of them are wearing a symbol on their clothing. It seemed that they were making a clan of some sort, that only had men. It was odd, yet disturbing. The pinkette felt her long strands of hair stick to her neck now. The humid air wasn't helping her tense body, making it worse in a matter of fact and she regretted not cutting her hair quickly before leaving Konoha.

Her train of thought was lost, when Sasuke halted them once more. Naruto glared at Sasuke briefly before watching as Sasuke, still crouched lowly, walked noiselessly to a man alone in a path along all of the lit tents. The blonde and pinkette were slightly offended he did not signal them a warning someone was in their way and yet they couldn't say anything about it but instead watched as the raven headed boy stealthily creeped behind the unsuspecting man. Sasuke whipped out a small dagger and stretching his arm back, he effectively stabbed the man in the neck. Due to his hand covering the man's mouth, Sasuke stifled out his grunt and surprised shriek. The man sunk to the ground immediately and Sasuke kept forward, through the camp without signaling his teammates.

"Oi! Sasuke!" Naruto yelled in a hushed whisper. "Wait for us dammit!"

Naruto glanced behind him to see Sakura, and nodded as he swiftly creeped over to Sasuke, crawling over the assassinated man in the progress. However, Sasuke did not stop but continued on his own, due to his speed, Naruto and Sakura continued to lose sight of him, making the two frustrated.

"Sasuke!" Naruto yelled once again quietly, when he looked to see no one near by who could hear them. But that didn't stop him. "...Dammit, that asshole..." They had lost the Uchiha and were partially lost in the maze of tents and violent men. Sakura closed her eyes and tried to look for Sasuke's chakra signature but as she guessed, he lowered it to such a faint flicker, that it blended in with all the men currently walking around. Now that the moon had set in, they had to be extra cautious.

"...Let's go Sakura-chan." Naruto murmured as he continued through the shadows of the tents, and all Sakura did was nod slowly. Sasuke did prove his point. He was turning arrogant with his new rank.

* * *

Sasuke sneaked into an unlit tent, keen with hearing, he did not hear anything or anyone and slightly dropped his guard. He stood up once secluded in the shadows of the dim tent. He looked around for a chakra signature and came up with none. He investigated the tent, looking for any scrolls or any evidence on where the actual tent was and he came up with nothing except Bingo books and dull weapons. Inwardly sighing in annoyance, he left the tent emtpy-handed and annoyed and he jumped back in when he heard a couple of men walking towards his path.

"...yeah. Boss wants us to get the bingo-book."

"Why? Just a stupid book."

A scoff was heard from one of them men.

"That stupid book has a lot of information, idiot."

_'Too easy.'_

Sasuke pulled out a kunai and prepared to jump the two men getting ready to come into the tent he was hiding in. Until everything turned on the young Uchiha.

A choked gasp escaped his throat as a hand grabbed him by the neck.

He fell through the tent, successfully ripping through it and towards his attacker. Thinking fast, Sasuke shot the kunai straight towards the direction the big hand gripping onto his neck. Grunts of attempting to stab the man rang through his ears. Cursing inwardly, Sasuke felt the hand loosen and he fell on his feet in a defence stance. He almost panicked when he saw that he was surrounded by four men, front and back and they looked ready to beat him to a pulp. A sinister chuckle echoed through Sasuke but he kept his ground and glared at each one of them.

"Little crap trying to get some information, ne? Hey guys... remember the last guy who tried to sneak past us?" The one on his upper-right said with a devilish smirk. The heavy one at his lower-left bellowed out a laugh.

"Yeah, we killed him... slowly right? Or did we torture him until he killed himself? I forgot." He said with a comical tone very noticable and Sasuke was ready to just jump up and out of the circle, but was stopped when the heavy grabbed the back of his neck and threw him on his back. Sasuke cringed slightly, but stared up with a stone-hard glare. Sharingan blazing in the dim light.

"Ooh, we've got a Uchiha on our hands... Those arrogant bastards think they can- oof!" The heavy one fell on his back and spit out blood. Sasuke stabbed the man from below in his torso and what made it worse was that his chidori electrocuted the man.

"Don't speak of the Uchiha like that." He spoke in a hushed tone. In legendary speed, Sasuke jumped up and looked down in mid-air to see the men looking up while in a fighting position. Summoning his chidori, Sasuke plummeted back down swiftly and towards the wide-eyed men. But something caught his eye and it was too fast for him to attempt to dodge it. Something hard and sharp hit him on his side and he fell, Hard, to the ground and he felt a sticky, warm liquid spill down his lip and the deep, sharp pain in his side. The dust clouding around him made it hard to find the men and to see if they were near, but instead he used his hearing and heard the approaching him in a fast matter. Ignoring the pain in his back, Sasuke stood up and dashed through the tent closest to him. Unknown that it was lit, he couldn't exactly tell if he saw shadows or chakra signatures inside since dust was clouding his vision. Noiselessly, the hurt nin rushed inside the small tent panting quietly.

Once he made it inside, he coughed up some blood onto his sleeve and looked up to see another amount of men. Men staring straight at him and slowly bringing out weapons from their pockets or on the table next to them. Sasuke froze on the spot and his sharingan eyed each one of them, planning any move to keep him alive.

_'...Shit.'_

Sasuke made hand signs for a jutsu and a huge fire ball spit out of his mouth. Just as he heard shrieks, he ran out of the tent and towards the forest that surrounded the camp. He had to regain his composure now and he couldn't keep coming into tents without thinking. Sasuke pulled out smoke bombs from the bag on his rear end and threw them over his shoulder and continued sprinting towards the forest in a somewhat messy manner, chakra in the soles of his feet speeding up the process. Multiple men jumped out of tents, corners and everywhere. All armed. Sasuke felt beads of sweat streak down his forehead. Once again, he threw paper and smoke bombs behind his back and kunais forward and to his side.

Men were after him in all directions and Sasuke knew if he jumped up again, the same thing would happen like when he was coming down towards the party of men below. What was it though? What did they throw at him? Sasuke brushed the thought of figuring out what the mystery item was and continued throwing all of his bombs and kunai towards the many nins. His vision abruptly started to blur in and out, just in small seconds. He didn't care of it and kept on rushing, completely forgetting about retrieving the measly scrolls Why he was even in the mess was to retrieve them.

Despite the multiple kunais, senbons and shurikens thrown at him and some of them actually hit lethal areas, but he saw it. The horizon of the forest.

_'...Almost there...'_

Just as he was ready to jump into the forest and hide himself, he fell forward unconsciously, with blurriness longer and stronger than before. He heard the men laughing, shouting and cackling around him. The fall made him lose his breath and he coughed loudly as he heard the men approaching close. Blinking multiple times in an attempt to dust the dirt away and hopefully the blurriness, Sasuke panted and tried to get up fast. That was stopped when a rush of pure, harsh pressure erupted on his back and he fell back down and grunted loud in surprise and pain. Someone had kicked him hard in the back and left their foot there to keep him there. He opened his eyes into narrow slits and looked around at the blurry figures and lights hovering just above him. Then a face appeared in front of him.

His heart stopped abruptly and he felt his eyes widen, despite the slight tinge of pain. Did they poison him?

"...Ta-Taikushi." The Uchiha managed to whisper out. What happened to him? Why was he feeling so... numb?

"A Uchiha killed my family and now I want to repay the debt."

* * *

Blue eyes spotted the crowd of nin and he clenched his teeth hard. To avoid from yelling out. He knew for sure that his teammate was in the middle of the growing crowd. Naruto was waiting in the cover of the bushes and natural darkness from the night for Sakura to come back from retrieving the scrolls.

Once they realized they lost Sasuke, they both decided on finding the scrolls then Sasuke so they can make a quick leave. It was a good plan until they heard the multiple yells, clangs of metal kunais hitting something or someone, and just the explosions around them. Naruto was worried that Sakura could have been in the fight since it occurred when she decided to go into the one tent. Naruto looked across the opening at said tent and was waiting eargly, he knew he couldn't run out and help Sasuke either since he was too outnumbered, at least dozens of men were surrounding Sasuke. Upon thinking that, Naruto felt hollow inside. His best friend might be getting killed now and he could do nothing but wait.

Then he clenched his fist in frustration and his eyes snapped open wide then looked down at his hand. The hand that was holding a kunai attached with multiple paper bombs and smoke bombs. Then an idea appeared in his head and as if on cue, Sakura ran out holding three scrolls under her arm. Success. Not being seen, the pinkette kneeled next to Naruto and stuffed the scrolls into her satchel.

Her emerald eyes reached Naruto's sapphire ones and her eyebrows knitted together as she brought out a kunai from her pocket.

"...He's getting killed in there. We have to save him."

"I know... and I have a plan." Naruto said with his famous grin, but that didn't lighten Sakura up. She kept her serious stare on him as Naruto took out more kunai with multiple bombs attached. He had at least five and he planned on making each count. Once he put them in a neat line, he looked up at Sakura intently. Sakura waited for him to speak since the look on his face clearly said he actually did have a plan.

"Sakura-chan, I need you to sneak up on them and immediately punch the ground to distract them. Then once there all looking at you or even if they can... I'll throw some of the kunais at the them," Sakura nodded and was already planning on where to hit, " Then if you see Sasuke, grab him and run the hell out of there. I'll meet you in the forest, two o'clock."

Naruto didn't wait for an answer, but instead he patted Sakura on the shoulder as she was putting away the kunai she pulled out earlier and that made her look up at him confused.

"Be careful Sakura-chan." He said with a big, genuine grin that brightened up Sakura. A smirk graced her lips as she turned from him and looked towards the crowd of nuke-nin.

"Don't worry Naruto... I know exactly what to do." She murmured as she started towards the rambling men. Naruto looked over the bush, taking Sakura's spot, and watched her intently as she noiselessly walked up behind the men. In her crouched, defensive position, she was much shorter than an amount of them and that was a good thing. Naruto knew that they were too distracted with beating up Sasuke inside to notice the girl getting ready to punch the ground in just behind them. A sense of relief hit Naruto as he prepared the kunai to throw.

* * *

A loud shriek echoed through the man's ears as he received another punch to the gut, then another. Then another. It was his own scream. Sticky, warm liquid flooded his throat and mouth and he did not care that it was overflowing through his mouth and even nose. They were beating him to a pulp and he knew that they meant every hit, kick to be lethal and for the death of him.

He could barely keep his eyes open for a second because every time he tried he got bashed in the fast, arm, leg, chest, stomach, just anywhere and due to the pain, he clenched his eyes close as a scream of pain came out. Laughs and sneers about the Uchiha clan were heard all around and what made Sasuke furious was that he could do nothing to defend himself or his clan name. He took great pride in the Uchiha. One of the head clans of Konoha and the most powerful, known everywhere for the famous eyes. The sharingan.

Sasuke knew he was done for... he knew that Naruto and Sakura must have gotten caught up this. Then cutting of his thoughts, a kick hit him hard in the ribs and he knew for sure it broke most of the bones inside. The young Uchiha regretted not being stealthier. Not being strong enough to defend the Uchiha. Not being strong to defend himself. Not being able to escape.

Not being able to keep his teammates -friends- safe.

He admitted to himself that he shouldn't even have been recruited into ANBU corps. Being on the famous squad one with his own brother was the biggest thing for him and now he knew he wouldn't be able to look his dear brother in the eyes again. He knew that his older brother could have escaped, actually have beaten this guys unlike him. Sasuke was the one getting beaten just because he could not escape. Sasuke was suppose to be one of the strong ANBU, what happened?

"Oi, should we try something else now? This is getting pretty boring." Sasuke heard someone say. He couldn't tell her since it seemed like his eyes were glued shut. There was talking and shouting going around and the raven-haired boy didn't even bother trying to decipher the talk going around since he knew the next blow would probably kill him. With deep pants and guttural grunts, Sasuke felt the numbness take over his body and then he felt them coming closer.

_'... I'm sorry mother, father... Itachi.'_

_Faint_ laughs were heard and he felt someone grab his deeply wounded arm.

_'...I'm... sorry Sakura, Naruto.' _

Sasuke kept repeating_ 'I'm sorry'_ over and over in his cloudy mind and he didn't even feel it when they pulled him up from the ground. He felt feather-weight once his back was off the ground, his arms felt like strings since they were immobile, now he just wondered what they were going to do now. In all honesty, he just wanted to end this but on the other hand, he didn't want to leave. His thoughts were cut off when he felt something on his neck. Probably they were preparing to stab-

_Boom._

Sasuke inhaled dust and multiple dirt particles as he fell back to the ground. He also smelt smoke clouding around him. Screams were echoing through his ears and he felt a few men scramble on top of him as they attempted to run from something or maybe even someone, who knew. Then something grabbed him, hard, and he was pulled up fast and he felt the cool touch of the same metal object to his neck. His eyes finally cracked open, but only to narrow slits that showed his Uchiha blood bleeding red. The only thing he saw was blurred lights from the tents and deep, white smoke everywhere. Figures were crawling and running in all directions from where he was held.

_Boom. Boom. Boom._

What the hell was going on?

The question was the only thing running in Sasuke's mind as he felt the deep panting of the certain someone holding him tightly around the neck.

"You're not going anywhere you little-"

A deep scream screeched into his ears as the grip on him loosened and he started falling to the floor. He felt warm blood sprinkle on the back of his neck and felt the same warm liquid leak down his neck in an alarming speed. His neck was cut. Deep. Since no one was gripping onto him now, he was falling head first and he felt the deep pressure in his throat column building. Until... he was caught with small hands, that were clearly coated in chakra. Chakra that was beautifully familiar to him. Then he felt like a feather again, getting swept off his feet by his teammate that he thought he'd never see again. Sakura didn't bother to look down to see him, she just knew he was alive and that they had to get out of there. Pumping chakra to her feet, she ran off through the cloud of thick smoke, towards the forest. Heading Northeast with chakra and her strength holding up the bloody body of Sasuke, Sakura ran for their life and successfully ran into the cover of the forest.

A sense of relief washed through Sakura as she headed towards the direction she hoped so dearly that Naruto was waiting at. Finally, after not sensing anyone after them, her jade orbs looked down to the horrible sight of her friend. Pale skin, lips. Eyes that were apparently cracked open with sheer will power, fresh bruises, blood and cuts all over his body. Torn clothes and worst of all the deep cut on his neck. She knew from being a medic, breathing was the hardest thing to do now for Sasuke, due to the size and how deep the cut was. And he was losing so much blood.

Instead of telling him the truth, she lied to him.

"It's going to be okay. Sasuke."

Sasuke looked up at his friend, a hard task to do in this type of pain and closed his crimson eyes soon after seeing the distraught, worried glint in her vivid green eyes. If it was going to be okay, she wouldn't be so worried.

* * *

Naruto jumped down from the top of trees and took in a much need breath. After successfully throwing his kunais and watching all the nins run around in terror, he just hoped dearly that Sakura promised she'd do. The blonde boy noticed that his breathing was becoming labored as stood in the opening of the forest. He realized he had used to much chakra running from them, in a desperate attempt to escape so he can meet them in time, Naruto used most of his chakra on running to the promised spot. Just when he thought he used to much just to find those stupid scrolls.

Taking another deep and long breath, Naruto sat down beneath a tree and closed his eyes in an attempt to regenerate some chakra because he knew that Sakura would be exhausted. Then he could make a clone of himself to carry Sakura then he, himself, could carry Sasuke because he knew far too well that Sasuke couldn't even move his arms if he wanted to.

Just then he heard faint rustle, then a flash of pink and dark blue appeared right in front of him. Jumping up with a huge smile of relief, Naruto walked towards them.

"You guys made it! Oh, I was so-... Sasuke?"

The smile on his lips immediately lowered into a worried frown. He had never seen his friend so... lifeless looking.

"Naruto.. I," Sakura said, hushed, through pants and she fell to her knees with Sasuke still in her arms. Naruto ran towards the two of them and knelt down right in front of the clearly exhausted woman. He noticed how her eyes were turning glassy, " I need you... to get Sasuke home right now. I'll catch up soon enough."

Naruto blanched.

"We can't leave you! They might come looking out here and you'll be alone... and in this state would be suicidal!"

Sakura lowered her head and pushed Sasuke into Naruto, who caught the cold boy unconsciously. She shook her head slowly.

"If you go... He can make it. Hurry-... What are you doing?"

Her jade eyes looked up and locked with Naruto's blue ones. His palms were holding onto hers tightly and she felt a warm tingle flow through her and suddenly the warm stream of it bursted into her body. Emerald eyes widened in surprise. He was giving her chakra. Pale eyebrows knitted together in confusion as she opened her mouth to speak.

"You can heal him Sakura," She wouldn't fight back now, she was surprised when he had dropped his usual suffix for her and Naruto had her full attention now. "If you have enough chakra you can stop the bleeding. You can save him. He won't make it if I do take him back to Konoha, he'll bleed out. He's hanging on his last string, please."

Sakura's mouth was open in a frozen breath.

It was true. If Naruto did agree on taking Sasuke home, he wouldn't make it and she even suggested it because she didn't have enough chakra to heal him or even enough for herself. Now she did. Naruto let go of her hands and lowered his head, panting harshly. He had drained the remainder of his chakra into Sakura and now she was practically filled with the famous chakra of his. He did have the kyuubi's amount of chakra within him too, it was disturbing that he had ran out. Her breathing slowly went back to normal as she thanked Naruto and took Sasuke from him, laying him gently in front of her. In a messy manner, she tore off the remainder of his torn shirt and cringed at the sight underneath it.

Purple, red and fresh bruises painted his skin along with bleeding cuts. Sakura could tell most of his ribs were either cracked or broken and his arms were fractured. He really did take a number... Slowly inhaling and exhaling, Sakura told herself she'd take care of it all soon after and averted her attention to the long and deep cut on his neck. Due to the moonlight, the blood all over his neck glimmered and her hands lowered to the wound. Closing her eyes, she concentrated chakra to her palms and pressed against it. Immediately Sasuke coughed loudly and blood spilled from the corner of his lips.

She ignored it and kept adding pressure to the cut. Biting her lip in concentration while clenching her eyes closed. She was thanking the gods Tsunade taught her healing in the first place, because if she had not... Sasuke would be gone now. A small gasp escaped her throat when she made a discovery. The man who cut him was about an inch close to cutting Sasuke's jugular. He really did avoid immediate death. Pushing that thought aside, Sakura applied chakra to the tore muscles and was letting her chakra quickly reproduce blood cells and flesh. The process of healing a deep wound took longer than she thought, but once she stopped the bleeding, a suppressed and relieved sigh unwillingly escaped her throat. Yet she continued to mend his flesh back together. Beads of sweat were slowly streaking down her face due to the amount of chakra she was using, but it was worth it.

"... Almost done Sasuke, Naruto." Sakura murmured and Naruto chuckled lightly as he placed a palm on her shoulder. Suddenly once again she felt the familiar tinge of warm chakra seeping through her body. Still pumping chakra into Sasuke, Sakura looked inclined her head towards Naruto for an explanation to why he was giving her more chakra even after draining his remainder. He simply grinned.

"Having the kyuubi has your perks, y'know. I regenerate fast... so take it." Naruto explained easily as he smiled at the pink-haired medic. Sakura nodded and a ghost of a smile traced her lips as she bent her head back down to heal Sasuke.

Then suddenly her eyes widened into huge circles.

"N-No...No... Sa-Sasuke... No!"

Naruto's hand fell from her shoulder and moved to the unmoving body of Sasuke's. Pumping chakra is his body in an attempt to make him respond, because he didn't need to be explained to on what just happened. Sasuke lost consciousness and stopped breathing and he was right. With his chakra lingering in his cold body, he didn't feel a pulse. A string of curses escaped Sakura's lips as she moved her hands from his neck, glad to see there was a small, white scar, and moved them swiftly to his chest. Her hands pushed hard into his chest, hoping to light a pulse.

"No.. Sasuke, wake up! Don't die." Tears began forming to quickly for her to think about as she kept pumping his chest with harsh pushes of her fists. Naruto continued to let his chakra in him and with teeth clenched, Naruto pushed a super amount of his chakra into his friend. Sakura suddenly felt her hands go limp as they fell from her friend's lifeless body and she fell hard onto her rear. Naruto looked up with question.

"Sakura, what's wrong?! We need you!"

Naruto felt helpless. Sasuke was dying and Sakura was giving up on him. Pressing his hands into Sasuke's chest in a desperate manner, he continued to push more chakra in. Praying to Kami that he would wake up. He didn't notice Sakura again until in the corner of his eyes, saw her move her hands slightly. Blue eyes averted to her in confusion.

Slowly, unwillingly, Sakura got up from the ground and stood over Naruto and Sasuke. Head overhung slightly as her eyes skimmed over Sasuke's body. Naruto watched incredulously as her teeth gritted and her pale eyebrows knitted together in some sort of rage. Fists clenched together, Sakura looked down straight at Sasuke and she didn't even know where this annoyance came from.

"Sasuke, wake up you arrogant bastard!"

Sakura cried with small tears flying out as she used her foot to kick Sasuke straight in the chest. Hard. Very hard.

Naruto was quick enough to remove his hands from Sasuke and fell back to watch how she swiftly jolted him in chest with a chakra-filled foot. Tears were freely flowing by now as she landed the hit and both eyes jumped to Sasuke's as he jumped and gasped loudly, coughing hard soon after. Wide, glassy eyes looked straight up as he choked on blood, also gasping for much needed air. Sasuke was just speechless as he looked straight up at the night sky. He just questioned himself if he had died.

Naruto and Sakura could not believe their eyes, but Sakura bent down towards his face and smiled feverishly as she laid her palm onto his battered face gently. A breathless sigh escaped her throat and tears rained down onto Sasuke, who could not believe he was seeing her face. Sakura's smile would not seem to fade as she continued to look down at Sasuke. Naruto was just speechless. A kick to the gut brought him back to the life and huge amounts of chakra didn't. But the grin that washed onto his face made him forgot the complicated side of this story and to just realize Sakura had saved his life and Sasuke was alive.

...

**To be continued...**

* * *

**Alright, seriously my longest chapter in all my stories ever. Took awhile but worth it. I loved how this came out and I will come back to fix it. ( I know I say that all the time, but I will!) And don't worry Itachi will appear very soon! This is a rare story of mine on where I don't introduce Itachi in the first chapter. :) **

**I somewhat feel guilty for making Sasuke seem weaker than usual... but I hoped he sounded strong. And about Naruto... his parents are alive and yes, he has the kyuubi in him. It'll be explained later... shh! **

**Until then loves! :)))**

**Reviews are my prized possessions! ;3; and are always appreciated, day and night~**


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